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ISIS

Isis hackers gain 'embarrassing' control of US Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

January 12, 2015 | 3 min read

The Twitter and YouTube accounts of the United States military's Central Command, a taskforce responsible for orchestrating airstrikes against militants in the Middle East, has been hijacked by a hacking group alleging to be the part of Isis' 'CyberCaliphate'.

The US taskforce's @Centcom Twitter account tweeted the message: "Isis is already here, we are in your PCs, in each military base.

At the time of publishing Twitter had suspended the Centcom account – although the YouTube page remains accessible.

A Twitter search for @CENTCOM merely returns the message: “ACCOUNT SUSPENDED - The profile you are trying to view has been suspended. To return to your home timeline, click here.”

However, visitors took numerous screenshots of the hack before it was removed from the web as it was in breach of the company’s terms in conditions.

Leaked in the attack was a zip folder called ‘US Army Files’ containing the names, addresses and contact information of US army operatives. CentCom issued a statement claiming it "is taking appropriate measures to address the matter".

A Pentagon spokesperson dubbed the hack "embarrassing but not a security threat" in an interview with NBC News.

Two Isis propaganda videos were also uploaded to the CentCom YouTube. The hack occurred as president Obama was preparing a speech on cyber-security

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